This ends our live blogging for September 15. Be sure to check back tomorrow for our continuing coverage.
Putin visits Kerch bridge construction site:
Russian President Vladimir Putin has inspected construction work on a bridge aimed at linking the annexed Crimean Peninsula to Russia.
Putin, who was in the Crimean city of Kerch on September 15, visited the construction site for the 19-kilometer bridge set to open in December 2018.
The president said the construction of the Kerch bridge will ensure a full integration of Crimea into Russia's transport system and will create opportunities for economic growth.
The project includes construction of a two-lane railroad and a four-lane highway across the Kerch Strait.
"This year, we provided an additional 5 billion rubles [$77 million] for road construction in Crimea, a total of 18 billion rubles [$231 million] was provided for this year," Putin also said.
Russia illegally annexed Crimea from Ukraine in March 2014. (AP, TASS, Interfax)
Steinmeier: cease-fire largely holding:
By RFE/RL
German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier says a new cease-fire declared in eastern Ukraine appears to be holding.
"It is still early, but I was encouraged to learn from the [OSCE] monitors that the cease-fire has been widely holding since midnight," Steinmeier said on September 15 during a visit to Kramatorsk, an eastern Ukrainian city controlled by the government.
"This shows that the sides can control the situation if there is political willingness."
Ukrainian Defense Ministry spokesman Oleksandr Motuzyanyk said separatists had violated the truce six times since midnight, while separatist officials were quoted as saying their forces came under mortar fire.
On September 14, the leaders of the Russia-backed separatists in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions declared a unilateral cease-fire, and Steinmeier said the following day in Kyiv that Ukrainian officials agreed to observe the truce.
The sides earlier agreed to abide by a truce to coincide with the start of the school year on September 1, but it failed to stop the fighting that has killed more than 9,600 people since April 2014. (w/AP, TASS, Interfax)